CNC vacuum tables and vacuum chucks built into one fixture plate. Off-the-shelf for Haas, Brother, Fanuc, Doosan, Datron, and Hurco. Built for high-mix work, prototype jobs, and repeat production.
CNC Vacuum Tables and Fixture Plates Built Into One
Vacuum fixture plates for high-mix and production machining
Vacuum Plate Categories
Who This Is For. Two kinds of shops. Same plate.
The same vacuum fixture plate supports two very different ways of running a machine. What changes is how the setup is used, not the hardware.
High-mix job shops and prototype shops
Different setup every day. The plate lives on the machine and swaps fixtures faster than a vise teardown. Pull it off when the next job needs the table back.
Dedicated production shops
Same part every day. Dial the plate in once and leave it. Conical locators hold position over thousands of cycles. Vacuum force is flat across the whole part, so the finish stays consistent. Rugged enough to run lights-out.
What Makes VFS Different. Four things. That’s it.
Most vacuum workholding systems do vacuum. Most fixture plates do fixturing. VFS does both on one plate.
One plate, one vacuum
The vacuum chuck is built into the fixture plate. No separate chuck to mount, no stacking. The plate goes on the machine and holds parts.
Conical locators, not dowel pins
Self-centering alignment. Faster to seat than traditional dowels, and just as repeatable. Less fiddling on every fixture swap.
Vacuum supply, your choice
Runs on a Magnetic Venturi Kit (best for wet machining and the most cost-effective entry) or a vacuum pump (best for dry machining and dedicated production). Any source pulling 20 inHg or better works.
Fits your machine
Off-the-shelf plates for Haas, Brother, Fanuc, Doosan, Datron, and Hurco. Pre-configured kits work on any machine. Custom plates when you need something specific.
How Vacuum Workholding Works
Atmospheric pressure does the work.
A CNC vacuum table holds parts by removing the air between the part and the plate. Atmospheric pressure (about 14.7 psi at sea level) presses the part down onto the sealed area. A 6 by 6 inch sealed part gets roughly 500 pounds of holding force. Big enough for finishing passes on aluminum, plastic, and composite plate. The bigger the sealed area, the harder it holds.
On a VFS plate, the vacuum chuck and fixture grid are one piece of hardware. You place the part, define the sealing area (Vacu-Card, cord gasket, or a sub-plate), apply vacuum, and start cutting. No mechanical clamps. No vise distortion. Full top-surface access for the spindle.
Plates are machined from 6061 aluminum. Repeatability sits within a couple ten-thousandths of an inch on a properly set fixture, putting VFS between a traditional fixture system and a zero-point system.
How VFS Handles Your Sealing Strategy
One plate. Four sealing strategies. Your choice.
Most vacuum systems lock you into one approach. VFS lets you pick the strategy that fits the job. Wet or dry. Zone or full-plate. One-off or production. The same plate handles all of it.
Applications for VFS. Where the plate earns its keep.
Scoping defines the direction. From there, work typically continues in one of two ways.
Aluminum plate, plastic, composite, sheet metal. Anywhere a part is too thin or too wide for a vise. Vacuum holds the full bottom surface flat, the spindle gets unobstructed access to the top. Standard for aerospace plates, signage panels, electronics enclosures, and prototype work.
CNC vacuum table setups shorten the path from CAD to cut. Set the part, lay the sealing strategy, run the program. Changeovers between jobs take minutes, not hours. The plate stays on the machine; only the part and sealing change.
Dial in a sub-plate or sealing strategy once and leave it. Conical locators hold position over thousands of cycles. Vacuum force is consistent across the whole part, so finish stays consistent and you do not get clamp marks. Rugged enough to run lights-out.
Vacuum workholding gives a robot what it needs: repeatable part positioning. Conical locators on the VFS plate index the part to within a few thousandths every cycle. Drop, pull vacuum, cut, blow off, pick. Same setup, every time.
Find Your CNC Vacuum Table by Machine Start with your machine. We’ll show you the plate.
No Vacuum on Your Machine? Two Options. Pick by your machining workflow.
Magnetic Venturi Kit
Best for wet machining (flood coolant). The venturi handles fluid passing through without filtration, which makes it the right choice for shops running coolant. Mounts magnetically to the outside of your machine enclosure. Runs on shop air at roughly 80 to 90 psi. The most cost-effective entry into vacuum workholding because most shops already have an air compressor.
Vacuum Pump
Best for dry machining and dedicated production. More efficient long-term and provides more consistent negative pressure than a venturi. Higher upfront cost. Wet machining with a pump requires a coolant filtration system, which adds to the install cost. Use it when you’re committing to vacuum as a permanent fixture in the shop.
Not Sure Where to Start?
Start with a General Kit. Build from there.
Most shops start with one of our General Kits. They are the most cost-effective way into the VacFixture ecosystem and they work on any machine. Try the system, learn how vacuum workholding fits your shop, and figure out what you actually need before committing to a machine-specific plate.
From there, you have three paths forward:
- Buy a machine-specific plate if your machine is on the Shop page (Haas, Brother, Fanuc, Doosan, Datron, Hurco). Same product line, optimized for your table.
- Build your own sub-plate or fixture using the conical locators we ship with every kit. Design custom workholding that mounts to the VFS plate so it integrates into our ecosystem.
- Have us build a custom plate for unusual table sizes, non-standard T-slot patterns, or dedicated production work. We can also build sub-plates that adapt VFS to your machine without modifications.
Accessories
What ships with the plate. What you can add.
A complete vacuum workholding setup needs more than the plate.
Venturi vacuum kits
Magnetic-mount kit that runs on shop air. Bolts to the enclosure in an afternoon.
Conical insert packs
Threaded conical locators (M6 standard, M8 optional) that replace dowel pins for fast fixture changeovers. Also the threaded foundation for building your own sub-plates and custom workholding that integrates into the VFS ecosystem.
Rubber plug packs
Closes off unused vacuum ports to concentrate force on the sealed area.
CNC vacuum table FAQs
Questions machinists actually ask.
Practical questions about CNC vacuum tables, vacuum chucks, and vacuum workholding systems. These cover holding force, setup time, production use, and how the system fits alongside traditional fixturing.
No. VFS is for plate machining and for flat parts a vise can’t hold well.Thin stock, sheet metal, large parts, anywhere you need access to the full top surface. When you need vise work, pull the plate off the table and run your vise. That flexibility is the whole point. A vise is still the right tool for heavy material removal and small, rigid parts. A vacuum fixture plate expands what the machine can run without constant teardown.
Atmospheric pressure is about 14.7 psi at sea level. That’s what’s pushing the part down onto the sealed area. A 6 by 6 inch sealed part gets roughly 500 pounds of clamping force. Plenty for finishing passes on aluminum, most plastics, and composites. Not enough for heavy hogging, that’s still a vise job.
Yes. CNC vacuum workholding is commonly used in both high-mix environments and dedicated production.
For repeat jobs, shops typically:
- Dial in a sealing strategy or sub-plate once
- Leave the plate mounted on the machine
- Run consistent setups across thousands of cycles
Conical locators maintain repeatable positioning, and full-surface vacuum support keeps parts flat. Once proven, the setup is stable enough for unattended and lights-out machining.
A CNC vacuum table does not require built-in machine vacuum. Two standard options are used:
Magnetic Venturi Kit
Runs on shop air. Best for wet machining with flood coolant. Handles fluid without filtration and installs on the outside of the enclosure.
Vacuum pump
Best for dry machining and dedicated production. Provides more consistent vacuum and better long-term efficiency.
Both options work with any system capable of pulling around 20 inHg or higher.
Setup time depends on the sealing method used:
- Vacu-Card: typically under one minute
- Cord gasket: two to five minutes to define a sealing perimeter
- Sub-plates: instant once built and mounted
In most cases, the vacuum fixture plate stays on the machine. Only the part and sealing strategy change between jobs, which reduces setup time compared to rebuilding a vise or fixture.
Yes. Vacuum workholding systems are well suited to automation. A CNC vacuum table provides:
- Repeatable part positioning through conical locators
- Full-surface holding without clamps
- Clear top access for machining and robot handling
It allows a consistent cycle: place part, apply vacuum, machine, release, remove. The same setup repeats without manual alignment on every cycle.
For shops planning machine tending or robotic loading, vacuum workholding simplifies the fixturing side of the cell. If you’re planning for automation, get in touch with our engineers.
What it looks like in production.
“The VFS for the Datron Neo is fully versatile. I am able to use my vises, 4th-axis, and fixture plates. I had never needed to remove the vacuum chuck. It basically permanently lives on the Neo.”
— CJ Rohde, Maverick Machine Co. (Tamaqua, PA)
Ready to stop rebuilding your setups?
Browse plates by machine. Talk to an engineer about a custom build. Either way, you’re ten minutes from knowing what you need.